Alberta rejects move towards Canada independence

Janak Jaleel (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janak Jaleel, and at 14 Hours GMT on Tuesday, the 20th of October, these are our main stories. With most ballots now counted in a referendum, the Canadian province of Alberta has rejected a plan to hold a binding vote on independence. More than 200 people have been killed in a series of drone attacks in Sudan. We look at how civilians are being targeted, as both sides in the civil war increasingly use drones. Australian police have charged a man after a lawmaker was hit by a car in what they say was a targeted attack.

Also in this podcast, could a new AI tool predict your chances of surviving cancer from just a selfie?

We start the podcast in Canada, where people in Alberta have voted to remain part of the country in the province's first ever referendum on separation. Even though all the votes have not yet been counted as we record this podcast, it seems Albertans have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to hold an independence referendum. The result was welcomed by the Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is trying to unify the country amid Canada's ongoing trade war with the United States and President Trump's threats of annexation. In a statement, Mr. Carney said, Albertans had chosen Canada. I got more details from our Chief International Correspondent, Lise Doucette, who's in the Canadian capital Ottawa.

Lise Doucette (1:32)

The national broadcasters CBC hours ago projected that it would be a firm victory for those who wanted Alberta to remain part of Canada.

The CBC projected more than 75 percent. That is a huge majority. But if those who say they want to start a legal process, to leave Canada, is more than 20 percent. That still is a lot. And it sends a message that they do have grievances that must be addressed. And this is why you're hearing from some of those who are in the remain camp saying, we're very proud of our victory. We know it's more important. We know it matters to remain in Canada, that Alberta is stronger that way. But there certainly will be those who say, well, we have to listen more carefully, more closely to what more than 20 percent of Albertans are saying. They've gone from a fringe movement of one or two percent to actually being on the ballot.

Janak Jaleel (2:29)

And this has all come as a huge relief for the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who's currently engaged in a trade war with the US and who's also trying to fight off President Trump's threats of making Canada a 51st US state.

Lise Doucette (2:43)

Yeah, that very much has been the cloud over this process with Mark Carney saying throughout the run up to this vote, saying it's the worst possible time for Alberta to be putting this to a vote without naming the United States. He said they want to break us so they can own us. That's one of his slogans he used in his election campaign, which brought him to the head of the federal government in Canada. It's interesting when you read his statement that he issued when the preliminary results seem to show a clear victory for the Remain camp. He talked about not just remaining in Canada, but building together with Alberta at the core of Canada as a global energy superpower. So it's really saying to Alberta, it's important you stay with us, and it's really important now because we have a job to do to diversify our trade partners and to use all of our energy wealth. And bear in mind that Mark Carney used to be seen as more of an environmentalist. Now he's saying to Alberta that we need you to take on the United States.

Janak Jaleel (3:52)

Well, as Lise mentioned, separatists in the all-rich province have vowed to fight on. Jethroff is a leading figure in the Alberta independence movement and co-founder of the Alberta Prosperity Project.

Jeff Rath (4:04)

We've created a political movement going forward. You know, we're obviously going to continue educating Albertans on the benefit of independence. And quite frankly, the math and the economics of it are undeniable. So we'll see what the numbers are at the end of the day. We'll have a better sense of where we're at tomorrow. But certainly our movement isn't stopping and we're continuing to move forward.

Janak Jaleel (4:23)

For more on the mood in the Separatist camp, we heard from Nadine Youssef, who was at a pro-independence watch party.

Nadine Youssef (4:30)

So we talked to some people to get some quick reaction. You know, some say that they expected this result, that, you know, to them, this was really just about sending a message to Ottawa, to the prime minister, Mark Carney and his liberal government, that they're frustrated by some of those policies and they want to see some change. And they feel like they've achieved that by at least, you know, having a vote on this issue and getting to go out to the ballot and vote. But we did also speak to the leaders of this movement as well. And there's definitely a sense that this conversation is far from over.